Dinerbots 1: Healthy dose of motor oil

Act 1 Part 1
Spring came as quickly as winter left, but the city never calmed down. As the sun came up once more, the large metropolis woke up like a sleeping giant. As usual, mankind drank its coffe in an invisible unison and machinery began acting according to their programming.

The 'manager' as employees usually refer to him woke up early. He was quite aware that a new day has come, a time he has no reason to be worried about. Yet inside his heart he had the sour feeling that always felt when he forgot something. But he was the type of businessman that would just go and listen to his feeling. Oh no, he had no time for that.

The moment he realized that he was fully awake, anger got to him. The usual 'its monday and i wish i could just retire' type of anger. He took a quick look at the watch above his bed and closed his eyes in a futile attempt to getting back to sleep. It was eight minutes before seven AM. Eight minutes before his personal caretaker would step into his room.

In the old man's mind this time felt like only a few seconds. Time he spend without thinking nor acting. But naturally, right when the clock hit seven in the morning the door to his room opened and through it, came a nandroid with ginger volume curls. But in this case we can even call it a nursedroid. The synthetic servant walked over her sleeping master.
"Good morning once again sir! Everyone has lined up and ready for another day! I have prepared your breakfast and made sure that there are no rats in the deep fryer this time!"

Even after months of waking up almost everyday to the smell of the same three type of breakfast, he never got used to waking up this early. Others at his age were either retired or dead. Those were clearly easier lives thats for sure, but those paths are also for cowards. Now that he thinked about his philosophy again, he realized that yesterday this sounded way better. Or at least when he didnt have to wake up after only six hours of sleep.

When nice words couldnt make him move, the robot gently grabbed its owner and made him sit up. Next to the bed was a black nightstand and on it was a couple of pills next to a nice glass of water.
immediately upon sitting up, the old fart opened his eyes once more and reached for the medicine and the water with skill and enthusiasm as if his mornings started off just like this. Every day. For years.
"I will wait for you in the kitchen. Do you want the others to do anything for you?" the maid asked the human while opening the shutters on the room's only window thus letting sunlight in, and blinding its owner for a few seconds.
"Just... Just get to work damn it!" the man shouted bitterly as he slowly opened his eyes again.

"As you wish sir. Dont forget to tie your shoes. Another day another dollar!" the nandroid exclaimed as it closed the door once more, leaving its boss alone in his room with nothing more than his thoughts and clothes ready for a new day as his company.
"Another day another dollar. Well lets get that money then..."

Act 1 Part 2
The door lead the gentleman to a kitchen. A big one in fact. Fully equiped with ovens, deep fryers and other cooking equipment. There were five 'cookdroids' there, all making sure that everything was ready for another busy day.
"Good morning Mr. Simmons!" they shout in unison upon seeing their master. He waved at them but didnt say a word. Instead he switlfy went over to his breakfast of bacon and eggs, precisely made to look like a smiling face. He took the food and rushed through a large metalic door on the other side of the kitchen.

He then entered the main area of the building. Aside from having a dozen tables, chairs and the last three robot servants, the place was quite empty. A perfect opportunity for Simmons here to quietly consume his breakfast.

As he finally began eating he took a good look at the outside world through the large window next to his seat. Some people were already waiting for their bus while others drove of with their high quality european cars. He wondered about many things. Mostly buisness related but after eating some of the high quality bacon, he started becoming more emotional. Will he taste these kind of rush ever again? Will the fresh winds of spring fly through his face while stressing about work?
"What a bunch of loser" he whispered to himself after finishing his food. "I bet they even pay their taxes"
"Did you say something sir?" the ginger nandroid from earlier asked while unlocking the building's door with a key.
"Ah yeah... Turn the sign Tory" Simmons replied while putting down his fork. And with that the word 'open' was once again seen at the entrance...

The city's most uniqe restaurant, the Robotops was ready for a brave new day

Act 2 Part 1
It was already near the end of the day. The sun was going down but customers were still arriving. Most recurring patrons are usually middle class families or overworked workers so they usually walk through the door after their shift ends. But it is not rare that families from the upper class visits the restaurant especially ones with nandroids and little children.

Mr Simmons usually talks to familiar faces or reads a book during rush hours but today he got himself to finally read the newspaper. Mostly because for some unexplainable reason he wanted to know whats going on in the outside world but he precisely made sure that he never lays his eyes on the celebrity related parts.
"Are you seeing this Tory? Someone made money by telling jokes for a day!"
"Well if hes so funny, then we should buy him!" the nandroid replied with an excited voice while mopping the floor next to her owner.
"Dont you mean... Hire?" Simmons responded as he slowly put down the paper and took a good look at Tory.

Suddenly a second nandroid with double black buns rushed to its boss. It was panting as if it was organic like most people in the room. It was clear that it had something urgent to say.
"Sir! Sir! There is a man in a suit outside! He wants to speak with you right now!"upon hearing this, the old Simmons thought that he will die of a heart attack. Of course this didnt happen but his heart rate has definitely entered orbit. He and Tory looked at each other in a mix of confusion and terror.
"I-its probably just someone who wants to rent the place for a night. I mean if he came from the police he wouldnt be waiting outside." Tory gave a worried answer, trying to calm down the elderly fellow.
"Alright, the two of us will greet him like anyone else. Bonny, just go back to doing your waitress things or something. Nothing changes until i say so." Simmons whispered to the two automatons. They both nodded in unison.

Outside the air was getting colder as the sun's power was fading away. There was indeed a smartly dressed young man with a goatee waiting infront of the restaurant. When Simmons walked up to him he noticed how tall this person, and he himself was smaller than avarage. The young man quickly noticed him and reached out his hand for a handshake and spoke in a bored voice.
"Harry H. Simmons I presume?" as he finished his question the two men shook each other's hand awkwardly.
"Well yes! How can I help you my son?" Simmons said with a clearly fake smile on his face.
"I am a health inspector sent out to inspect your restaurant. But I presume that you already know this. I mean how could you forget? Anyways it wont take long guessing by your synthetic employees." The old bloke was petrified. He absolutely forgot about the fact a health inspector will be coming. It took him a few seconds to give a reply.
"W-well certanly mister..."
"Hugh Wilcox." the man gave a quick response while pulling out a black clipboard from his suit. How he was capable of fitting the whole thing there, is a question for another day.
"Very well mister Wilcox. Welcome to the Robotops!" Tory opened her arms as if she was ready for a hug but even she realized that this was not the time for it
"Yes yes lets just get on with it." the gentleman said as they walked towards the entrance.

The trio entered the building once again. Mr. Simmons yelled out for Bonny again.
"Hey get this man a table." The waitress nodded.
"We will join you in a few seconds!" when Hugh was far out of the way, Simmons grabbed both arms of his assistant and quietly asked her.
"Why didnt I learn about this?!"
"I have no clue sir. Only health inspection related memory I could find was a letter with Mr. Wilcox's name on it. But you threw it in the fireplace because you didnt want to pay for the gas bill." she responded with a sad expression on her face.
"Did I actually do that?!"
"Well maybe you had a little bit too much eggnogs that night." at this point Simmons calmed down a little bit. He started walking towards the table where his guest sat down. "We will get through this just act cute and let me do the talking." Tory nodded once more and she started following her boss.

The health inspector was calmly talking to Bonny who had the menu in her arms. Hugh noticed the owner coming and his expression changed from calm to mildly annoyed.
"Is there something wrong? Maybe an accident in the kitchen?"
"Oh what? No, we were just talking about... About giving you a discount! Yes, just for you!" both men faked a smile.
"Oh wow lucky me" Wilcox gave a response as he was handed the menu. Simmons and his assistant sat down on the other side of the table. "Well if you made me sit down I will order my favorite... I'll have some salmon." he flipped through a dozen dishes before noticing that none of them had salmon.
"Truth is that... We dont have salmon."
"What do you mean? Every restaurant has salmon!" he leaned back in his chair. He wasn't angry, just dissapointed. As if he just watched his son fail the same math test for the seventh time.
"Mr. Simmons says that it's too expensive." a second waitressbot spoke up as she walked past the table while carrying an emtpy plate. The two sides look at each other again.
"You see, we always prioritise safety first. I don't know any fishermen so I just don't wanna risk it." Simmons replied with a confident tone.
"Yeah it's alright. I mean getting a restaurant running with a nandroid only staff was probably not cheap. I'll order a steak, rare of course." Hugh gave back the menu to the robot next to her who immediately went back to the kitchen. After that no one knew what to say for a few seconds. Then Mr. Wilcox broke the ice. "So what's up with the androids?"
"Well it's a hilarious story really. You see after my first divorce..." for the next four minutes straight, the old man Harry talked about his life. His Victories and failures. "I actually knew Sterling really well. Back in high school. He wasn't the outgoing type of person. I don't remember him going after the girls, he was just studying almost all day! Oh boy I could be his right hand man if I still had that damn violin haha." after another minute he eventually finished and got to where he is today. "See, a robot never gets sick, dosen't need to go on vacation nor has to take a break. They are also really cute and the people here love them."
"S-sure yes that last part is definetly true. I never had a nandroid and I never plan to have one." Hugh answered after looking at his watch.
"Oh? No kids?" Simmons asked him.
"No wife" Wilcox replied.
"What about elderly parents?"
"No inheritance" the two couldn't figure it out what he could mean by that so they didn't have the courage to say anything.

The restaurant started to become more and more silent as other than this trio of discomfort there was only a few other guests left. The old geezer also looked at his wristwatch. It was almost nine PM.
"But is there something more to this?" Simmons had no idea what he was talking about so all he could do was to raise his eyebrow. "As in, is this just another average diner but with robot maids?"
"Well... People can rent the place for their birthday." the owner declared.
"That is correct!" Tory stated with great pleasure. "As you have already noticed, we put all available cakes on our menu! It is interesting however that while chocolate makes up only 13% of our available selection, customers order it 53% of the time! Fun fact: we-" before she could finish his sentence, Hugh's steak was placed before him.
"Ah what a shame you cannot finish your sentence because my food arrived, im sure life here is really full of adventure." the guest said as he began eating his supper.
"You know our motto! Tory say our motto."
"Life is hectic and our kidney pie is fantastic!" the duo responded with perfect synergy.

Act 2 Part 2
After finishing his meal, the health inspector payed for it and the trio entered the kitchen. The three nandroids whose jobs were to cook were still doing their jobs diligently. Upon entering, Mr. Wilcox immediately started his work. It was clear that everything was clean as it is physically possible.
"Let me see the temperature here. This is where you keep the pork right?" he go out a thermometer and checked the temperature of everything where food was stored. At the end he noticed another cupboard full of ingredients. As he kneeled down to open it one of the nandroid cooks, wearing a chef's hatwalked up to Simmons with a deep-fried object that had the shape of a unusually large rodent.
"Sorry sir. We don't know how but-" the old man quickly grabbed the oily beast by its head and threw it directly into the nearest trash can.
"Did anything controversial happen while I wasn't looking?" Wilcox spoke up after turning around.
"Why would anything controversial happen in my kitchen?" Simmons shrugged.
"Well so far so good. Let me just check your garbage." the beauty of human consciousness can be witnessed in moments like this one. Just one sentence is enough to make a man die inside. To become nothing but a husk.
"Sure... Sure thing buddy. Let's start with the can behind you." his plan was simple. Distract the enemy and quickly get 'today's suprise' to some place where human eyes may never see it again.
"Hohoho mister Simmons I think you forgot there is only one trash can in the kitchen. Don't worry, the room's layout has been craved into my brain forever thanks to my training." the end was truly inevitable? After writing something on his clipboard, Hugh walked up to the sole hoarder filth. The can opened...

But there was silence. Hugh stood up and washed his hands.
"Alright so far everything is good." Simmons let out a big sigh.
"That's a relief. As in, I knew that we always follow the guidlines... Is there a problem?" he asked after he noticed the disturbed Mr. Wilcox.
"Why is that one smoking?" the young man asked as he pointed at a nandroid behind him with a hair net over her black hair and a cigarette in her mouth. She noticed the two and stopped her work.
"Ah yes Weatherly... Well if you had to wash the dishes all day you would be stressed out too haha." he may have laughed but gentleman in front of him didn't.
"Do you realize what a big health risk that is?" Simmons scratched his chin and after a few minutes he responded.
"To who?" at first Hugh couldn't understand what he meant by that. But after thinking about it for half a minute he realized it. Hugh looked behind himself and only saw nandroids. And it's common knowledge that robots don't have lungs. For a moment he opened his mouth, ready to warn the owner about the fact that tobacco could ruin the food but he remembered that the bad air never reached cuisine thanks to the room's ventilation.
"Alright you passed." after bringing the good news, he handed a certificate to Simmons and swiftly walked out of the building.

When Tory looked out to see if Mr. Wilcox was still in the restaurant she looked back to the rest of the crew and told them that it's over. Every nandroid cheered in the kitchen but their owner brought up an important question.
"But where is that rat?" the cooks looked at each other and one of them lifted her hat and revealed the location of the small mammal to her boss.

Epilogue
When the last customer stepped back into the now quiet and dark streets of the city, Simmons started thinking about his life again. As he took one last look at his workers he saw that even after another tiresome day, the nanbots happily cleaned the tables and washed the floor. He knew that's just how they are programmed but he has seen them act and feel as if they were humans too. He said goodnight to all except one.

He entered the kitchen once more, and the android who was washing the dishes during the inspection ran up to him.
"Im so sorry sir! We were not informed in time and... Im so sorry." if she was capable of crying, her eyes would be full of tears at this point. Her concerned synthetic expression was capable of bringing even the most cruel men into feeling kidness.
"Oh don't worry dear everything is fine now." from the corner of his eye he noticed that there was still quite a few dirty dishes left. Then an idea passed his mind. "Let me finish your work. You are maybe the most diligent one here. Go and talk to your sisters."
"Bur sir! You don't have to do that I would be happy to finish my job." her sorrow eyes were now shining in manufactured hope, but she couldn't belive what she just heared.
"It's alright. I wanted to bring something new to my life anyways." the nandroid shook the old man's unsteady hands and thanked him a dozen times. The two went towards opposite directions and as Mr. Simmons turned on the sink, he smiled. He smiled because he felt the change and it was a wonderful sensation.